TOK Presentation: Ethics

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Transcript of TOK Presentation: Ethics

EthicsThe philosophical study of moralityThe moral principles that govern a person's or group's behaviorThe branch of knowledge that deals with moral principlesTOK Presentation: EthicsRebecca CallahanWinter 2014Real World SituationDavid E. Schorr, who was in the middle of a divorce, picked his son up from his mother's house and the son wanted McDonald's for dinnerSchorr gave him a choice: he can eat at any other restaurant, other than McDonald's, or he gets no dinner.The son choice to get no dinner.Real World Situationcont.Marilyn Schiller was assigned to be the psychologist in charge of the divorce.She declared Schorr to be an unfit fatherSchorr filed a lawsuit saying Schiller urged the judge to limit the amount of visits he was allowed with his son because of his decision. Knowledge IssueHow is reason a better guide to what is ethical than emotion?What makes this an issue?When people override reason with emotion when making ethical decisions it can lead to an unethical result. What makes it a contemporary issue? With the divorce rate between married couples rising, the rate of custody battles is also rising.Circumstances like this are happening Problems of KnowledgePossible Uncertainty We are unsure of what type of father Schorr is. He could be an extremely good father or a rather terrible father.Even though Schorr says that he was trying to teach his son how to make correct choices, reason, there could have been a more emotional reason for his decision to deny his son dinner that he is choosing not to bring to light. BiasThe psychologist, Schiller, seemed to be extremely biased in this caseBiased against Shorr because she is a woman Shorr is biased because his rights to see his child was taken awayLimitationsThere has to be an emotional side to an ethical decision because it has to be based on the personal morals as well as the morals held by the greater whole. JustificationReason is a better guide to what is ethical because it allows you to think things through and judge what is ethical and what is not based on your own set of morals and those set by society. Emotion seems to lead to more spontaneous decisions of what is ethical without thinking it through completely. CounterclaimsGeorge Sanders"Mercy Killing"Colorado baker denying a wedding cake to a same-sex coupleHAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!